Beccles had a few late call-offs to contend with and went in with a relatively inexperienced side. They fielded five of last years colts team as well as some players new to rugby this year. This inexperience didn’t show early on as Beccles took the game to their higher placed opposition.
The Beccles defence was solid but they didn’t have much ball to play with. On the few occasions they did pick up the ball they made some inroads in to the Crusaders territory without converting it in to points.
As the half went on it was Crusaders who upped their game. A pushover scrum brought the first try with Beccles unable to stop them on the slippery ground. A second try soon followed when the winger found an overlap out wide to cross. This gave a half time score of 0 – 10.
The second half was a tight affair with defences on top and few chances for either side. Bonner tackled well for Beccles and made yards when he received the ball at inside centre. He was named man of the match and looked to be building up a good understanding with Gedney at fly-half.
As the game moved in to last quarter it became increasingly fractious. With Johnstone and Suchy in the sin bin along with one of the Crusaders player space started to open up. Crusaders took advantage and added another couple of tries to give a final score of 22-0.
This would another good performance by Beccles without getting anything for it. They now move in to a run of five league games that they have a good chance of getting something from. They will have to turn performances in to points if they want to move up the table and finfish the season well. First however they host Swaffham in the Norfolk Junior Cup on Saturday (14:30 ko).
With a number of call offs for the first team the second team ended up travelling to CrusadersII’s with only nine players. Crusaders lent Beccles some players to get the game on but proved too strong for Beccles, winning by 45-0.